The Iconic Dempster Dumpmaster Garbage Truck

The Dempster Dumpmaster was invented in as a means of emptying large mobile garbage bins made of metal. The Dumpmaster was patented in the 1930s as a truck that loads large dumpsters in the front as a brand new, innovative means of waste management. It was introduced in large scale over the next few decades by the Dempster Brothers Company, which is the same company that the now common trademarked term “dumpster” comes from.

Before the idea of large metal trash bins came about in the form of dumpsters, people with large quantities of trash had to either take large loads of rubbish to the dump themselves, or they would have to keep heaps of smelly trash in their own homes and slowly put it in the small plastic bins that were dumped weekly. Businesses suffered the most prior to the lack of large-scale waste management, as their sheer volumes of refuse necessitated paying outside companies to properly dispose of their garbage or devote many hours and valuable real estate to doing it themselves. But once the dumpster came about, a new, efficient means of handling large amounts of residential and common stuff to be disposed of was the norm, and the combination of a dumpster per company and a Dempster Dumpmaster to empty this revolutionary new waste receptacle made junkyard trips for small-business owners a thing of the past.

The dumpster came about as a result of the industrialization of society, and the solution of creating the most efficient way of transferring this convenience came in the form of the Dempster Dumpmaster. It has two forklift-like arms in front of the driver’s windshield that fit perfectly into two “sleeves” built into every dumpster. Each Dempster Dumpmaster driver has a specific route of dumpsters that have been rented out to “owners” who pay to have their refuse dumped on a pre-determined basis. The simple controls at the driver’s seat of every Dempster Dumpmaster require no additional training and as a result most drivers receive minimum wage. The ease of having one’s dumpster emptied weekly into a Dumpmaster has definitely helped to make urban life much easier and simpler than if every person on every block in a big city such as New York had to individually make a trip to the city junkyard to dispose of common household waste.

The shape, size, and smell of the Dempster Dumpmaster has become a common sight across America, and everything down from its dual appendages to its boxy shape is recognizable to everyone. The truck even has its own toys that mimic everything about your everyday Trashmobile except for its large size and its smell of literal hot garbage. Sadly, miniature Dumpmasters cannot compact and store real trash no matter what size it is. The signature garbage truck and its branding of Dempster has become synonymous with garbage collectors, “trash men”, and junkyards everywhere. The Dempster Dumpmaster has found its way to the silver screen, notably in the movie “Toy Story 3”, where the living toys that are the star of the film face nearly certain demise and the massive interior space and powerful compression abilities of the trash compactor designed in every Dumpmaster.

Trash trucks aren’t as well known by their generalized trademark like the widely successful “dumpster” so popularized by the Dempster Brothers. However, everyone should know the impact and contribution to society the brothers’ invention has made. The Dempster Dumpmaster and its clever alliteration should be a big household name along the lines of Ford’s Model T and Kleenex and Cheerios; not only as a synonym for “trash truck”, but as a homage to one of the most underappreciated inventions